By Dana MacLean

HIGHLIGHTS

BANGKOK, 16 July 2013 (IRIN) – Influential Buddhist monks in Myanmar have been aggravating longstanding tensions between the country’s Buddhist and Muslim communities since violence erupted between the two groups in 2012, say experts.
 
“The Burmese Buddhist monks may not have initiated the violence but they rode the wave and began to incite more,” said Michael Jerryson, a religious studies professor and co-editor of Buddhist Warfare, a recent 2010 publication examining the violent side of Buddhism in Southeast Asia and how Buddhist organizations there have used religious images and rhetoric to support “military conquest”.

By Charles M. Sennott
Editor-at-Large, The GroundTruth Project

YANGON, Myanmar — A group of 20 top, young journalists — 11 from Myanmar and 9 from the United States — set out on a series of journeys last month through a country undergoing dramatic change.

They formed five teams chosen for a highly competitive reporting fellowship which was put together as a partnership between GlobalPost and the New York City-based Open Hands Initiative.

One team set out to navigate the great capitals of Myanmar, also known as Burma.

They started at the ancient city of Bagan, looking at the politics of renovating sacred space; and then on to the colonial town of Mandalay to look at a rising Buddhist nationalism that seems to be taking root; and finally on to the surreal, empty modern capital of Naypyidaw.

By Patrick McCormick, NM-TLC Reviewer

Michael Aung-Thwin and Maitrii Aung-Thwin, A History of Myanmar Since Ancient Times: Traditions and Transformations

London: Reaktion Books, 2012. Pp. 328; timeline, illustrations, notes, bibliography, index.

Reviewed by Patrick McCormick.

1.

A few months ago, I found myself sitting in a restaurant in Bangkok, eating with a colleague and mentor. I mentioned to him that I had been given a copy of A History of Myanmar Since Ancient Times to review. He looked grim and shook his head. “I’ve read it. He’s wrong as usual. I hope you’ll say something.” This reaction is typical of much scholarly reaction to Michael Aung-Thwin’s work, resulting from his tendency to propose new interpretations and criticisms, not all of which everyone wants to hear.

Author: Karen News

The Karen Community Association UK (KCA UK) has called for Prime Minister David Cameron to pressure President Thein Sein to withdraw his soldiers from ethnic states in order to demonstrate he is serious about improving human rights.

Despite a ceasefire agreement being reached between the Government and the Karen National Union (KNU) in 2012, human rights violations including forced labour, arbitrary detention and land confiscation continue in Karen State.

“We know from our experience that we cannot trust the Burmese Army”, said Htoo Ku Hsa Say, Chairperson of KCA UK. “As long as they are in our land, our people will not feel safe. Therefore, we call on the British Government to ask President Thein Sein to order his troops to remove from our home land, so that trust can be built and those who have lived in fear for decades can start to rebuild their lives without being overlooked by those they feared.”

Burma Briefing No. 27

This briefing provides revealing quotes, past and present, from Burma’s President Thein Sein.

There is a growing disparity between the words of Thein Sein, and the actions of his government. However, the policy of Britain, the EU, USA and many other countries appears to be based on his promises, not actual policy and action. Promises and pledges by Thein Sein are frequently cited as one of the justifications for ending international pressure and normalising relations. When Thein Sein says something positive, he is praised, when he says something negative, such as saying he wants to expel all Rohingya from Burma, there is a resounding silence from the international community.

Thein Sein is normally very careful in what he says. Western educated advisors help him in particular with scripts for delivering messages to the international community. There also appears to be a pattern of tailoring certain messages in English for international consumption, and other messages in Burmese for domestic consumption. However, sometimes the truth slips out.